Water and Sanitation in Urban Malawi: Can the Millennium Development Goals be met? A Study of Informal Settlements in Three Cities

This paper assesses the quality and extent of provision for water and sanitation in urban areas in Malawi – where more than 60 per cent of the population live in informal settlements. This assessment is based on a survey of 10 per cent of the households in nine low-income settlements. In each of Malawi’s three largest cities, Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu, this included a planned area that had become a “slum”, a squatter settlement and a settlement developed through community initiative with the Malawi Homeless People’s Federation. In total, 1,178 households were interviewed. The study also included focus group discussions and key informant interviews with staff from central and local governments, parastatals, civil society organizations and water sellers operating water kiosks. The quality of water from different sources was tested, with samples collected from water kiosks, wells and water storage containers within homes.

Within the nine settlements studied, provision for water was dominated by water kiosks. Of the households surveyed, 53 per cent purchased water from kiosks while 26 per cent had individual water connections and 13 per cent bought water from another house plot. But water consumption levels varied considerably: some families bought just one pail of water a week from kiosks, getting the rest of their water from other (unprotected) sources such as shallow wells and rivers for washing clothes and bathing. Kiosk attendants reported that on some days, water sales were so low as to represent no more than one pail per household served by the kiosk.

Regarding sanitation, only 10 per cent of Blantyre’s total population and 8 per cent of Lilongwe’s, live in homes connected to sewers; in Mzuzu, there are no sewers. Most of the people in all three cities rely on pit latrines. For instance, in Lilongwe, 70 per cent of the population used pit latrines and 20 per cent used toilets linked to septic tanks. Within the study areas, 94 per cent of the population used pit latrines, while 4 per cent used toilets with septic tanks. Most households used shared toilets, while 1.4 per cent lacked any form of toilet. Only 27 per cent of households had toilets that were not shared. Most toilets were cheap to construct but expensive to empty, and it is common for pit latrines to be abandoned and another pit to be dug. In older houses, several pit holes can be seen in the backyards.

Given the very large inadequacies in provision for water and sanitation in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu noted above, it is puzzling to find that in 2000, 95 per cent of Malawi’s urban population was said to have piped water and 96 per cent to have safe sanitation. Official statistics also suggest that 96 per cent of Malawi’s urban population had access to potable water in 2006, while 97 per cent had access to safe sanitation.

The paper also considers the current and potential role of community-led sanitation improvements. It includes recommendations for interventions needed by governmental, international and civil society organizations to improve the living conditions of communities, to contribute to the realization of the Millennium Development Goals.